More than 1,800 municipal workers in New York state topped Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s salary, study finds

ALBANY >> Fire, police and top tier local government employees across New York state have carved out lucrative payday deals for themselves, a new Empire Center report detailed Thursday.

The center’s annual “What They Make” report said taxpayer-paid salaries in the $100,000 range are common for public safety jobs, with one Long Island jail warden leading the list with a $414,527 payout last year. In Saratoga County, lawyer Lyn Murphy made $91,990 as an assistant district attorney and $95,346 as Halfmoon town attorney for total pay of $187,336.

The totals do not include health insurance benefits, pension and other perks — only the pay the employees receive. Average pay by region for local government workers ranged from a low of $35,000 in the Mohawk Valley to more than $70,000 on Long Island, with most workers earning in the $35,000 to $45,000 range.

“The Empire Center produces this report because it is committed to protecting the right of taxpayers to know how their money is being spent,” said Executive Director Tim Hoefer. “Employee compensation is the single largest component of most municipal budgets. Pairing this pay data with the localized spending data in SeeThroughNY’s Benchmarking NY tool, taxpayers can get a real sense of how their local governments are spending their tax dollars.”

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The highest paid public employee in the Capital region was an Albany cop who collected $177,397, with the number two and three spots posted by Rensselaer County workers who earned $176,325 and $164,016 respectively, according to the Empire Center, a conservative group that espouses tax and spending cuts.

Other top earners by region included in Central New York, an Onondaga County worker who collected $195,462. Other top earners by region included, in the Finger Lakes, a Wayne County worker earning $224,138; and in the Mid-Hudson region, a Westchester County worker who made $319,628.

The list of the 50 highest paid county and municipal workers included annual compensation ranging from $256,714 to $414,527. Most of the highest paying jobs were on Long Island or in Westchester and Rockland counties.

Overall, more than 1,800 local government workers earned more than the $179,000 salary of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

In the Mid-Hudson region, which includes Dutchess, orange, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester, Sullivan and Ulster counties, Westchester County’s non-police employees were the highest-paid county employees in the state, averaging $76,652. Westchester County police were paid an average of $184,865, making them the highest-paid employees in the region and the highest-paid county police officers in the state.

Ramapo was the highest-paying town for both general employees and police in the entire state, with average pay at $72,264 and $164,847, respectively. Eight of the top 10 highest paid in the region worked for Westchester County, while the other two worked at the Ramapo and Clarkstown police

Kingston city workers ranked 11th out of 12 cities in the Mid-Hudson region for average pay, at $42,094, while Kingston police and fire employees were at the bottom for the region, at an average of $73,168. Kingston listed 199 general employees and 123 police and fire employees.

Ulster County employees ranked sixth out of seven counties in the region at $45,956; Dutchess workers ranked fourth at $55,314. Sullivan was last in the region with $42,970.

Statewide, average pay for general city workers was $45,623 for city employees and $85,783 for fire and police workers. Average pay for general county workers was $49,612 statewide and $154,620 for police and fire; while town general employees’ pay averaged $38,794 and fire and police pay averaged $90,106 in towns statewide.

The report is available online at www.empirecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/WhatTheyMake2013-14.pdf